Production of high soft stretch tapes of reinforcing cords for molded elastomeric articles

ABSTRACT

The production of high &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;soft stretch&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; tapes of reinforcing cords usable in the single-stage building of 0* belted pneumatic tires completely in flat band form on standard building drums, is disclosed, together with a representative form of apparatus suitable for the practice of the invention. In general, the types of tape to be produced include one or more such cords, each having formed therein a multiplicity of undulations which in any given straight length of the tape are substantially planar, and a relatively weak and frangible but only minimally undulated stabilizing yarn, the components of the tape being secured to each other and held in their undulating state by a relative weak, chain stitch knitted, frangible stitching yarn or thread. The tape-forming apparatus generally includes an undulating and tying mechanism for both undulating the cords and securing them to each other in that state, and means for controlling both the cord feed rate into and the tape feed rate out of said mechanism. Where the tape is to be composed of cords additionally locally weakened at a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced points, the apparatus further includes means for weakening the cords prior to their entry into the undulating and tying mechanism, and means for phasing all the component cords of any given tape relative to each other so as to dispose the respective weakened portions of each cord out of lateral alignment with the weakened portions of at least each next adjacent cord. Where the tape further is to have a relatively higher cord count, provided by uniting a plurality of relatively lower cord count tapes, the apparatus also includes means for phasing the low cord number tapes relative to each other. This abstract is not to be taken as a complete exposition or as a limitation of the present invention, however, the full nature and extent of the invention being discernible only by reference to and from the entire disclosure.

United States Patent 1.

Neville et al.

[ 1 Nov. 27,1973

[ 1 PRODUCTION OF HIGH SOFT STRETCH TAPES OF REINFORCING CORDS FOR MOLDED ELASTOMERIC ARTICLES [75] Inventors: James J. Neville, Kinnelon; Daniel Shichman, Cedar Grove, both of NJ. 73 Assignee: Uniroyal, Inc., New York, N.Y. 221 Filed: July 8, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 160,669

[52] US. Cl 156/148, 66/84, 66/85 R,

152/359, 156/393, 156/510, 156/538, 226/88 [51] Int. Cl. B321! 31/00, D03d 7/00 [58] Field of Search 156/110, 117, 132,

Primary Examiner-George F. Lesmes Assistant Examiner-P. Thibodeau Attorney-Norbert P. Holler [57] ABSTRACT The production of high soft stretch" tapes of reinforcing cords usable in the single-stage building of 0 belted pneumatic tires completely in flat band form on standard building drums, is disclosed, together with a representative form of apparatus suitable for the practice of the invention. In general, the types of tape to be produced include one or more such cords, each having formed therein a multiplicity of undulations which in any given straight length of the tape are substantially planar, and a relatively weak and frangible but only minimally undulated stabilizing yarn, the components of the tape being secured to each other and held in their undulating state by a relative weak, chain stitch knitted, frangible stitching yarn or thread. The tape-forming apparatus generally includes an undulating and tying mechanism for both undulating the cords and securing them to each other in that state, and means for controlling both the cord feed rate into and the tape feed rate out of said mechanism. Where the tape is to be composed of cords additionally locally weakened at a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced points, the apparatus further includes means for weakening the cords prior to their entry into the undulating and tying mechanism, and means for phasing all the component cords of any given tape relative to each other so as to dispose the respective weakened portions of each cord out of lateral alignment with the weakened portions of at least each next adjacent cord. Where the tape further is to have a relatively higher cord count, provided by uniting a plurality of relatively lower cord count tapes, the apparatus also includes means for phasing the low cord number tapes relative to each other. This abstract is not to be taken as a complete exposition or as a limitation of the present invention, however, the full nature and extent of the invention being discernible only by reference to and from the entire disclosure.

22 Claims, 25 Drawing Figures PAIENIEDHUY 27 I915 SHEET 3 BF 7 PAIENTEDNBYZY I915 sum 6 or 7 3774.662

INVENTORS BY Janos J. Nev/1.4: Davy/cc dam/rm WPM dm yq PRODUCTION OF HIGH SOFT STRETCH TAPES OF REINFORCING CORDS FOR MOLDED ELASTOMERIC ARTICLES This invention relates to the production of high soft stretch tapes made of reinforcing cords for molded elastomeric articles, and in particular to methods and apparatus for use in the formation of such tapes.

In a copending application Ser. No. 160,675 entitled Zero Degree Belted Tires. And High Soft Stretch Belt- Forming Tapes Therefor," filed of even date herewith and assigned to the same assignee as the instant application, and naming J.J. Neville, W. Ferrell and D. Shichman as inventors, there are disclosed various high soft stretch reinforcing cord tape constructions which are capable of being longitudinally considerably extended without the individual component cords thereof being stretched and are designed for use in building the belt-forming structures of belted tires so as to render feasible the single-stage building of such tires, i.e. the building of the belt-forming structure of a 0 belted tire while the carcass of the tire is still in its original or as built state. Generally speaking, such a high soft stretch tape basically comprises a continuous, longitudinally extensible strand of one or more reinforcing cords each having formed therein a multiplicity of undulations which in any given straight length of the tape are substantially planar, the undulations preferably being of a generally sinusoidal nature. In the most preferred forms, the tapes are plural cord structures in which the individual cords, each of which may be untreated or may have a coating of rubber or latex or other rubber-adhesion promoting material preapplied thereto, are secured to each other in the desired relation by a relatively weak and frangible cotton or like yarn or thread warp knitted into a chain-stitch form, with the cords being laid into the stitches or loops of the yarn which at the same time hold each cord in its undulating state. To enhance the stability and integrity of the tape for purposes of handling, another relatively weak and frangible cotton or like thread or yarn is also laid into and held by the stitches but in almost straight condition with only minimal undulation. Each cord of such a tape may also be provided with a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced locally weakened portions which may be produced mechanically, chemically, or otherwise.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide novel methods of and apparatus for forming such high soft stretch" tapes.

Basically, an apparatus according to the present invention comprises an undulating and tying device for both undulating each cord and securing thereto the tying means for holding it in that state, and means for controlling and synchronizing the cord feed rate into and the tape feed rate out of said device, and also, if a weakened cord tape is to be formed, a weakening device arranged to be traversed by the cord prior to its entry into the undulating and tying device. Where a basic tape is to be formed of a plurality of cords, the undulating and tying device will also function to secure the various cords to each other, and for such a tape made of weakened cords, the weakening device will be arranged to act on all the cords simultaneously. In the latter case, the apparatus, in addition to the components so far described, also includes means for phasing the cords entering the undulating and tying device in such a manner that when they have been fashioned into a tape, the weakened portions of each cord of that tape are out of lateral alignment with the respective weakened portions of each next adjacent cord. Where a final higher cord number tape is to be made of a plurality of lower cord number tapes, the apparatus further includes, in addition to the facilities for making as many low cord number tapes as are required, means for bringing the low cord number tapes together into side by side relation after they leave the undulating and tying device, and means for causing the tapes to adhere firmly to each other so as to create the final high cord number tape. If the cords are weakened, the apparatus will also include means for phasing the respective low cord number tapes as they leave the undulating and tying device in such a manner that when they are brought together, the weakened portions of the respective proximate or facing side cords of the tapes are out of lateral alignment with each other.

The foregoing and other objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, of a high soft stretch tape according to the basic principles of the invention disclosed in the aforesaid copending application and composed of a single rubber-coated cord with planar undulations, the cord being held in the undulating state by a frangible chain stitch knitted yarn;

FIG. 1a is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line la-la in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, of a similar but two-cord high soft stretch" tape, with the respective sets of undulations being disposed in parallel, side by side planes and out of phase with each other;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, diagrammatic, perspective view of a three-cord high soft stretch tape similar to that shown in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 3a and 3b are sectional views, on enlarged scales, taken along the lines 3a-3a and 3b-3b, respectively, in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are fragmentary, diagrammatic, perspective views, respectively, of six-cord and nine-cord high soft stretch tapes each made of an appropriate number of laterally joined three-cord tapes of the type shown in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 4a and 5a are sectional views, on an enlarged scale, taken along the lines 4a-4a and Sa-Sa, respectively, in FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, of a one-cord wide high soft stretch tape formed of two cords having their respective undulations disposed in a single common plane and in nesting relation to each other;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of a threecord wide high soft stretch tape formed of three side by side nested-cord tapes of the type shown in FIGS. 6 and 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 9-9 in FIG. 8;

FIG. is a schematic illustration of the basic methods of making high soft stretch tapes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary, partly diagrammatic, perspective illustration of an apparatus designed for the practice of one variant of the tape-forming methods represented in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary perspective illustration, on an enlarged scale, of one type of weakening device which can be utilized in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 1 for locally deteriorating and weakening the cords being formed into tape;

FIGS. 13 and 13a are fragmentary sectional views, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 1313 in FIG. 12 and illustrate the weakening device in different stages of operation;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, of a weakened cord emanating from the device shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of an undulating and tying device which can be utilized in the apparatus shown in FIG. 11 for undulating the starting cords and securing them to each other in that state to form the desired tapes;

FIG. 15a is a graphic representation of the relative motions of the various tape-forming cords and the stabilizing yarn in the device shown in FIG. 24;

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of a joining device utilized in the apparatus shown in FIG. 11 for combining two lower cord number tapes into one higher cord number tape;

FIG. 17 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 17-17 in FIG. 16; and

FIG. 18 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 18-18 in FIG. 17.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 9, which with one exception are identical to the correspondingly numbered illustrations in the aforesaid copending application, FIG. 1 shows a high soft stretch" tape 1 which is constituted by a single, undulating cord 2 shown, merely by way of example, as being composed of a filamentary reinforcing cord member 3 encased in an outer covering or sheath 3' of rubber. The cord is shown as being held in its undulating state by a series of loops or stitches of a relatively weak thread or yarn 4, hereinafter referred to as the stitching yarn or thread, with the line of stitches extending along the longitudinal center line or axis of symmetry of the series of undulations. The loops of the stitching yarn, which are illustrated in greatly exaggerated fashion in FIG. 1a, are shown as being parts of a single chain of stitches one wale wide formed by means of the method and apparatus of the present invention, i.e. by warp knitting the yarn with a single needle and guide bar in a l-./.-l movement, the yarn being continuously lapped around the needle and the cord being laid'into the loops by being shuttled back and forth across the needle path. In actuality, of course, the loops of the stitching yarn will be tighter than as shown in FIG. 1a, to such an extent as to bite somewhat into the rubber coating 3.

It should be noted that the term relatively weak" as used in the foregoing context is intended to denote any thread or yarn which is made to have the strength to withstand moderate tensile forces such as might be encountered in normal handling of the tape, and yet is made to be easily frangible so as not to interfere with the straightening of the cord when the tape is subjected to relatively high forces such as might be encountered during the radial expansion and shaping of a raw tire in which the tape, helically wound circumferentially about the medial region of the tire carcass, constitutes the belt-forming structure. Ordinarily, therefore, the stitching yarn is a conventional spun staple fiber yarn or thread of cotton, rayon or the like.

The undulations of the cord 2, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 1a, which are substantially planar in any given straight length of the tape, are generally sinusoidal, i.e. they have a configuration approximating that of a regular sine wave, but they may have any other type of analogously repeating substantially planar configuration, e.g. that of a square wave, a series of loops, etc., if desired. The soft stretch or stretch ratio of the tape is, of course, determined by the magnitude of the undulations imparted to the cord and can be selected at will by an appropriate adjustment of the apparatus, as will be more fully described presently.

FIG. 2 shows a similar high soft stretch tape 1a which is composed of two generally sinusoidally undulating, individually rubber-coated cords 2. The respective sets of undulations of the cords are shown as being parallel to and out of phase with each other, and the cords are held in their undulating states and tied to each other by a relatively weak stitching yarn 4 knitted in the same manner as described above in connection with the one-cord tape 1, with the two cords being laid into the yarn stitches so that each loop embraces both cords at their regionof intersection. (The actual arrangement in cross-section is not explicitly shown but can be readily visualized from the one-cord arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1a.)

In like manner, a three-cord tape 1b is shown in FIGS. 3, 3a and 3b, with the two outer cords 2 having their undulations out of phase with those of the middle cord, and all cords being laid into the stitches of the yarn 4 during the knitting thereof as previously described, so that each loop embraces all three cords at their region of intersection. It should again be kept in mind that the exaggerated representation of the tape lb in FIG. 3b is rather idealized for the sake of clarity. In actuality, as in the case of the tape 1a,.the stitching yarn loops will be tight enough to bite into the rubber coatings 3' of the two outer cords, as indicated in FIG. 3a, and to exert sufficient lateral forces on the portions of the cords embraced in and tied together by each stitch to squash or compact the cords somewhat. This, of course, will not effect any material change in the general parallelism and side by side relationship between the cords.

For ease of manufacture, the undulations of the side by side adjacent cords in any such plural-cord tape are longitudinally offset with respect to each other, most preferably in a out of phase relationship as shown for the sine wave undulations in FIGS. 2 and 3 (FIG. 2 thus may be considered in effect as being a representation of all plural-cord tapes with 180 out of phase generally sinusoidal undulations when viewed in side elevation). Nevertheless, the undulations of such side by side adjacent cords in any given plural-cord tape may just as well be in lateral alignment, i.e. in phase, with each other (any such tape when viewed in side elevation would have the same appearance as the tape 1 in FIG. 1), inasmuch as the disposition and functional interrelationships of the cords once they have been straightened out are entirely independent of the original locations of the undulations. In tapes of plural side by side cords, of course, the joining of the cords to each other may be achieved by other types of relatively weak means than stitching yarns or threads, such as by suitable rubber cements, thermoplastic rubber compositions, etc.

Although plural-cord tapes including even greater numbers of side by side cords (not shown), i.e. four, five, six, etc., tied together into a single matrix by one stitching yarn may be constructed, it has been found that tape production and handling requirements tend to place a practical upper limit of about four or five cords on such tapes. Accordingly, as pointed out in the aforesaid copending application, it may be advantageous to make high soft-stretch plural-cord tapes of relatively higher numbers of component cords from a plurality of tapes of lesser cord numbers, with the latter tapes being cemented or otherwise adhered to each other in side by side relation. Merely by way of example, there is shown in FIGS. 4 and 4a a six-cord tape 1c composed of two three-cord tapes lb (FIGS. 3, 3a and 3b) cemented to one another in side by side relation, with both the lower number tapes being longitudinally so offset relative to each other as to cause the undulations of the respective adjoining side cords to be out of phase with each other. Similarly, FIGS. 5 and 5a show a nine-cord tape 1d built up in a similar manner of three three-cord tapes lb. The possible variants of this type of construction will, of course, be readily apparent; thus, the six-cord tape could, for example, be made of three two-cord tapes la, and, for that matter, any plural-cord tape could be made of any appropriate number of tapes having lower numbers of cords, even, for example, of onecord tapes 1.

At the same time, as also pointed out in the aforesaid copending application, it is further advantageous to incorporate in any high soft stretch tape utilizing a relatively weak stitching yarn as the tying means, an additional relatively weak thread .or yarn, such as is indicated schematically at 6 in FIG. la for the one-cord tape 1 and in FIGS. 3, 3a and 312 for the three-cord tape lb. For the sake of clarity, no such yarn 6 has been shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The yarn 6 is preferably of the same type and physical properties as the stitching yarn 4 but is laid into the stitches or loops of the latter in the same manner as the cords 2 themselves except with only a very small degree of waviness (in a plane parallel to those of the undulations of the cords) and while being maintained under a relatively high tension equal to about 70-80 percent of its full tensile strength. The yarn 6 thus enhances the integrity of the tape and serves as a means for stabilizing the tape against premature stretching thereof and a consequent undesired straightening of the cords during handling, thereby enabling the tape to be kept under the proper degree of tension without any risk of the stitching yarn opening up or breaking either while the tape is being drawn onto a take-up roll from the tape-forming apparatus or while the tape is being drawn from such a roll for the belt-building operation. By virtue of the method of its formation, therefore, the six-cord tape 1c (FIGS. 4 and 4a) has two stabilizing yarns 6 incorporated therein, while for the same reason the nine-cord tape 1d (FIGS. 5 and 5a) has three stabilizing yarns 6 incorporated therein.

Certain types of high soft stretch plural-cord tapes may also be characterized by the presence of generally sinusoidally undulating cords arranged in nesting relation with each other and secured together by a relatively weak tying means. Merely by way of example, FIGS. 6 and 7 show a tape 1e composed of two cords 2 each composed of a cord member 3 and a rubber coating 3, the two cords being arranged in nesting relation, i.e. with each two interfitted undulations disposed in a single plane and being held together in their undulating state by a relatively weak stitching yarn 4 the loops of which (not shown in plan) are formed in the same manner as described hereinbefore in connection with FIGS. la and 3b. (The tape le thus, although a two-cord tape, is only one cord wide, and the actual arrangement can be visualized by imagining the presence of two longitudinally, i.e. right/left, adjacent sectioned cord portions confined in each loop shown in FIG. la.) Similarly, FIGS. 8 and 9 show a three cord wide tape 1f composed of three such one cord wide dual-cord components 1e cemented to each other in side by side relation and arranged with their undulations out of phase with each other. It will be understood, of course, that any nested-cord tape more than one cord wide can also be formed as a unit, by jointly undulating the respective pairs of cords and so laying them into the loops of a common stitching yarn in the same manner as described above for the single cords of the tape 1b (for example, the actual arrangement for such a unitconstructed three cord wide nested-cord tape, not shown, can be visualized by imagining the presence of three pairs of longitudinally, i.e. right/left, adjacent sectioned cord portions confined in each loop shown in FIG. 3b). By the same token, the nested-cord principles outlined above may also be applied to greater numbers of cords than two and reference may be had to the aforesaid copending application for further details.

All of the foregoing high soft stretch tape constructions, it will be appreciated, may utilize either cords which are unweakened or cords which are locally weakened or deteriorated in any suitable manner at a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced locations, as indicated schematically at 3" in FIG. 14 for a cord 2, to a residual tensile strength between about 5 and 20 percent of their starting tensile strength. Wherever weakened cords are used, however, the cords of any given tape will be combined so that the weakened portions of each cord are laterally out of alignment with the weakened portions of at least each next adjacent cord and preferably also with the weakened portions of all the cords of the same tape across the entire width thereof.

Inasmuch as the various tape constructions so far described do not per se constitute a part of the present invention, the methods of use of such tapes in the building of reinforcement-forming structures for molded elastomeric articles intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tapes therein, e.g. in the single-stage building of 0 belted tires, will 'not be described herein. For details of such methods, of the performance characteristics of the tapes, and of the resultant articles, reference may be had to the aforesaid copending application.

'To illustrate the basic method and apparatus aspects of the present invention, there will now be described as a representative example the formation of one type of high soft stretch tape construction, to wit a six-cord tape such as 10 (FIGS. 4 and 4a) from two three-cord tapes such as 1b (FIGS. 3, 3a and 3b) of locally weakened rubber-covered cords 2 (the description will, of

course, apply to otherwise treated cords and even untreated cords as well).

Referring now in particular to FIG. 10, in the tapeforming operation for this construction, the starting six cords 2, which may be considered as being in two sets of three cords each, are taken from a creel-mounted set of supply spools 7. The cords are brought into parallel side by side relation by suitable guides 8 and 9, and then move along parallel paths of travel straddled by and extending through an intermittently activated weakening device 10 where they are periodically jointly subjected to an appropriate deterioration or weakening action. The weakening of the cords may be achieved either by physical means (mechanical, electrical, thermal, etc.) or by chemical means (acid treatment, saponification, plasticization, etc.), and the weakening interval, i.e. the cord length between successive weakened portions for each cord of any intended tape construction, is selected and preset in accordance with the intended ultimate configuration of the reinforcing structure to be built therefrom. It will be understood, of course, that not all types of cords, depending in general on the cord construction and/or the nature of the cord material, will be able to be weakened in the same manner.

From the device 10, the cord paths lead coextensively around a continuously driven metering roll 11 to an idler roll 12. The metering roll 11, the operation of which is synchronized with that of the weakening device 10, has a roughened or otherwise high friction exterior surface and provides the force for drawing the cords at the desired feed rate and in a slip-free manner from the supply spools 7. The paths of the three cords of each set then diverge, in the manner indicated by the reference characters 2a-2b-2c and 2a'-2b-2c, so that the first cords travel from the roll 12 directly to a pair of guide rolls 13, while the second and third cords travel over respective phasing rolls l4 and 15 from which they converge again to come together with the first cords at the guide rolls 13. From the latter, all the cords travel jointly to an idler roll 16 located at the entrance to an undulating and tying device 17. In this way, it will be understood, the length of the path of travel of each cord of each set of three from the roll 12 to the roll 16 is varied and adjusted relative to the length of the corresponding path traveled by each of the other cords of the same set, so that when each respective three cords reach the device 17, their originally simultaneously formed and laterally aligned weakened portions are no longer in lateral alignment with each other but are longitudinally displaced or offset with respect to each other. Concurrently therewith, two stitching yarns 4 and two stabilizing yarns 6, each of the latter tensioned to about 70-80 percent of its tensile strength, are fed to the device 17 from respective supply spools thereof (not shown).

In the device 17, which for this tape construction includes, in accordance with the present invention, a warp knitting mechanism to be described in greater detail hereinafter, two knitting needles and a pair of associated threaders are operated in a l-0/O-l pattern to knit the respective relatively weak stitching yarns 4 into two separate one wale wide chains of loops such as are shown in FIG. 3b. Concurrently, the three cords of each set and the associated stabilizing yarn 6 are fed individually to the location of a respective knitting needle and are jointly shuttled reciprocally thereacross, i.e.

transversely of the direction of needle movement, in predetermined phased relationship to each other. With the rate of feed of the cords properly controlled, therefore, in a manner which will become clear presently, each three cords and the stabilizing yarn therefor are laid in a generally sinusoidally undulating form, of appropriately large amplitude in the case of the cords, and in side by side relation with each other across the path of movement of the associated needle and into the respective loops formed thereby, so as to be embraced at their cross-over portions by the stitching yarn and thus secured and locked together into a three cord tape 18. The amplitude of the shuttling movement of the stabilizing yarn is, at the same time, very limited, so that in the final tape the stabilizing yarn is almost straight and provides the integrity, i.e. resistance to premature elongation, needed to permit further handling and processing of the tape without any diminution of its prescribed stretch ratio. Preferably, the cord shuttling is so carried out that the undulations of each cord of each tape are out of phase or lateral alignment with the undulations of each next adjacent cord.

The two three-cord tapes 18 so formed are drawn away from the undulating and tying device 17 by a second continuously driven metering roll 19 disposed intermediate a pair of idler rolls 20 and 20 over which the tape is passed. The metering roll 19, like the roll 1 1, has a high friction exterior surface to provide for a slipfree drawing of the tapes 18 from the device 17, and its operation is synchronized with that of the metering roll 11 and the device 17. The system thus enables the amplitudes of the undulations and thereby the stretch ratio or soft stretch of each of the three-cord tapes 18 to be accurately controlled. From the idler roll 20', the paths of travel of the two three-cord tapes first diverge and then reconverge, in the manner indicated by the reference characters 18a and 18b, one tape traveling over a phasing roll 21 and thence to an idler roll 22, and the other tape traveling directly to the roll 22. In this way, the length of the path of travel of one of the three-cord tapes is varied and adjusted relative to the length of the path of travel of the other, so that when the tapes come together again at the roll 22, the two sets of staggered weakened portions are no longer in lateral alignment with each other but are longitudinally displaced or offset with respect to each other.

From the roll 22, the paths of travel of the two tapes 18 go under a guide roll 23 and then are straddled by and extend through a joining device 24 where a liquid cement or adhesive compatible with the rubber covering 3' of the cords is applied to the facing sides of the tapes and the latter are squeezed together and caused to adhere to each other to form a six-cord tape 25. The latter is then wound onto a suitable driven take-up spool or roll 26, its path of travelextending through and being straddled by a tensioning device 27 which is operable to control the driving of the take-up roll 26 so as to maintain the tape under a controlled tension.

A representative form of an apparatus A constructed in accordance with the present invention and designed for the practice of the above-described method of making such a six-cord tape is illustrated in FIG. 11. The apparatus, which for the sake of clarity is shown without its framework and without any indication of the passage of the cords, yarns and tapes therethrough, includes (see also FIG. 10) a common drive means 28 for all the synchronized components thereof, i.e. the weak- 9 ening device 10, the metering rolls 11 and 19, the undulating and tying device 17 and the joining device 24, and a secondary drive means 29 for the take-up roll 26. The main drive means comprises an electric motor 38 driving a sprocket 39 which is connected by a chain 40 to a sprocket 41. The latter is connected via a clutch 42 to a main drive shaft 43 which carries a bevel gear 44 that is in meshing engagement with a bevel gear 45 mounted on a transverse auxiliary drive shaft 46.

The shaft 46 carries a sprocket 47 which is connected by a chain 48 to a sprocket 49 mounted on a shaft 49a connected via an adjustable reducing mechanism 50 to a shaft 51a carrying a large spur gear 51. The latter is in mesh with another spur gear 52 mounted on the shaft 53 of the metering roll 1 1. The shaft 53 further carries a smaller spur gear 54 which is in mesh with another spur gear 55 drivingly connected to an intermittently actuatable control switch mechanism 56, eg a camactuatable solenoid switch, operatively connected, as indicated schematically by the line 57, to the control or operating system 58 of the weakening device 10. It will be apparent, therefore, that the drive train so far described is operable to rotate the metering roll 11 at any desired preselected speed for the purpose of controlling the feed rate of the starting cords through the weakening device and into the undulating and tying device, and concurrently to cause the weakening device to be repeatedly activated at time intervals corresponding to the passage of predetermined lengths of the cords through said device.

The shaft 53 still further carries a sprocket 59 connected by a chain 60 to a sprocket 61 mounted on a shaft 62. Also mounted on the latter is a spur gear 63 which is drivingly connected via a pinion 64 with another spur gear 65 mounted on the shaft 66 of the metering roll 19. The shaft 66 further carries a sprocket 67 connected by a chain 68 to a sprocket 69 mounted on the shaft 70 of the guide roll 23. A spur gear 71 also carried by the shaft 70 is in mesh with another spur gear 72 mounted on a shaft 73 coaxially with a sprocket 74 which is connected by a chain 75 with a sprocket 76 constituting the driving element of the joining device 24. It will be apparent, therefore, that the drive train just described is operable to rotate the metering roll 19 at any desired preselected speed for the purpose of controlling the feed rate of the finished three-cord tapes out of the undulating and tying device 17, and that the setting of the speed of the roll 19 relative to that of the metering roll 11 controls the stretch ratio or soft stretch imparted to the three-cord tapes. Concurrently, the said drive train serves to operate certain rotary elements of the joining device 24 during the uniting of the two tapes into the final six-cord tape form.

The secondary drive means 29 comprises an electric motor 77 driving a sprocket 78 which is connected by a chain 79 to a sprocket 80 secured to a shaft 80a adapted to support the take-up roll or spool 26. The motor 77, which also drives (in a manner not shown) a reciprocating traversing guide 81 through the intermediary of a ratchet shaft 81a, is electrically tied in (in a manner not shown) with the motor 38 so as to be deenergized and bring the take-up operation to a halt whenever the operation of the motor 38, and thus the tape formation, is interrupted for any reason. The motor 77 is, however, also arranged to be independently stopped and started by the operation of the tension control device 27. Merely by way of example, the latter is shown as comprising a pair of upper, coplanar idler rollers 82 and 83 journaled on spaced, parallel axes, and an intermediate, lower gravity or floating tensioning roller 84 coplanar with the rollers 82 and 83 and journaled in a bushing 85 mounted for vertical sliding movement along an upright rod 86. The arrangement is such that the finished tape leaving the joining device 24 is passed in sequence over the roller 82, under the roller 84 and over the roller 83. The roller 84 thus is effectively supported by the festooned tape. At a pair of vertically spaced points along the path of travel of, and in position to be activated by, the roller 84 or an adjunct thereof are provided two limit switches 87 and 88 which are connected into the circuit of the motor 77 in a manner not explicitly shown but indicated schematically bythe lines 89 and 90, the switch 87 being operable to stop the motor 77 when the roller 84 reaches the upper limit of its travel, and the switch 88 being operable to start the motor 77 when the roller 84 reaches the bottom limit of its travel.

It will be understood, therefore, that before the winding of a finished tape 25 onto the take-up roll 26 can be begun, the festoon of the tape will have to be long enough to dispose the tensioning roller 84 at the bottom end of its vertical travel path. With the motor 77 thus started, the tape is drawn out of the tension control device 27 at a slightly faster linear speed than the speed at which it is being fed thereinto from the joining device 24. Consequently, as the tape is wound onto the roll 26, the festoon of the tape between the rollers 82 and 83 starts to become shorter. If this were to continue unchecked, the tension on the tape would begin to vary significantly, i.e. to increase rapidly and continuously, as soon as the festoon had completely disappeared, which would be highly inimical to the ultimate production of uniform tires. This potential defect is avoided by the fact that well before the festoon of the tape can disappear, the tensioning roller 84 riding up in the rising bottom end of the festoon reaches the switch 87 and activates the same to stop the motor 77 and the take-up operation. Since more tape is continually being produced, however, the festoon then again begins to lengthen, which continues until the now downwardly traveling tensioning roller reaches the switch 88 and activates the same to restart the motor 77. In this manner, the tension in the tape at all times is accurately controlled to remain between prescribed acceptable limits.

Referring now to FIG. 12, the weakening device 10 of the apparatus A is shown as being a nicking mechanism which is constructed in the form of a press-like structure comprising a rigid base or framework 91 supporting a stationary lower platen 92 and a plurality of vertical guide rods 93 (only one is shown) which slidably support an upper platen 94 through the intermediary of sleeves 95 fixed to the latter. The upper platen is connected with the head 96 ofa push rod 97 of a pressing mechanism (not shown) which is operated by the control system 58 (FIG. 1 1) under the action of the switch 56 to move the platen 94 up or down as required. The lower or base platen 92 rigidly supports an anvil structure 98 including a pair of abutment blocks 99 of identical height disposed on opposite sides of the path of movement of the cords 2, and a cutting block 100 vertically adjustably disposed between the abutment blocks, the cutting block being tapered to provide an uppermost relatively narrow edge (see also FIG. 13) which is disposed at a level somewhat below the top plane of the abutment blocks, the difference in height necessarily being less, of course, than the thickness of the cords to be weakened. correspondingly, the upper platen 94 rigidly supports a striker member 101 and downwardly facing surface of which is entirely flat and parallel to the common plane of the upper surfaces of the abutment blocks 99.

It will be clear, therefore, that in operation, when the press is closed by the upper platen being moved down to bring the striker 101 against the abutment blocks 99, the cords will be forced against the cutting block 100 (see FIG. 13a) and will be bruised or nicked thereby, to the extent determined by the adjusted setting of the cutting block, to produce desired local deteriorations or weakenings 3" (FIG. 14). As already mentioned, this setting should preferably be such as to leave the cords with a residual tensile strength sufficient, i.e. not less than on the order of about to 20 percent of their full tensile strength, to enable the cords to be drawn into and processed in the undulating and tying device 17.

Referring now to FIG. 15, the undulating and tying device 17 of the apparatus A is a warp knitting mechanism adapted to knit a pair of stitching yarns 4 into two disconnected chains of loops each one wale wide, with the cords 2 and the stabilizing yarns 6 laid into the stitches. This mechanism includes (see also FIG. 11) a needle bar 102 carrying a pair of bearded knitting needles 103, one for each of the three-cord tapes to be formed, and an opposed single front guide bar 104 carrying a corresponding pair of threaders 105 to which the stitching yarns 4 are fed via suitable guide rollers 105a. The needle bar is connected at its rear edge with one end of a pusher rod 106 (FIG. 11) which in turn is connected at its other end with an eccentric 107 mounted on the auxiliary drive shaft 46, whereby the needle bar 102 is reciprocated toward and away from the front guide bar 104, as indicated by the doubleheaded arrow E (FIG. whenever the motor 38 is running and the clutch 42 engaged. The front guide bar 104 is mounted on a rocker shaft 108 adapted to be reciprocally moved angularly about its axis and laterally linearly along its axis, as indicated by the doubleheaded arrows F and G (FIG. 15), thereby to enable the threaders 105 to perform their lapping movements relative to the needles 103. The rocking movements of the front guide bar are effected by means of a pair of link arms (not shown) each articulated at one end to a respective adjunct 109 of the rocker shaft 108 and at its other end to a corresponding eccentric (not shown) mounted on the drive shaft 46, while the lateral movements of the front guide bar are effected by means of an eccentric l 10 also driven (in a manner not explicitly illustrated) by the shaft 46.

The undulating means of the knitting mechanism includes four transverse back guide bars 111, 112, 113 and 114 which are mounted for axial reciprocal movements, as indicated by the double-headed arrows I-I. Adjustably fixed to the back guide bars 111 to 114 are respective pairs of downwardly depending rods 115, 116, 117 and 118 to the bottom ends of which are secured two sets of threading tubes 119,120, 121 and 122, respectively, the two sets of these tubes being juxtaposed to the paths of movement of the respective needles 103. The tubes 119, 121 and 122 of each set are the guide elements for the respective group of three cords 2, while the tube of each set is the guide element for the respective stabilizing yarn 6 which may be fed thereto via an associated guide roller 1200 (FIG. 1 1).

It will be understood, therefore, that the indicated movements of the back guide bars will shuttle the cords and the stabilizing yarns back and forth across the respective needle paths. To this end, the required movements of the back guide bars 111 to 114 are effected, in conventional manner, by means of a pattern drum and chain combination (not shown), or the like, driven by the main drive shaft 43 of the apparatus. The height of the pattern chain links acting on the stabilizing yarn guide bar 112 is, of course, chosen to be very small, so as to ensure that the stabilizing yarn is laid into the loops of the stitching yarn in almost straight condition, as previously indicated. At the same time, for the purposes of the illustrated tape forming operation, the links acting on the cord guide bars 111, 113 and 114 are so arranged that the guide bars 111 and 114 move in phase with each other and 180 out of phase with the guide bar 113. The links for the stabilizing yarn guide bar 112, as will be clear, may be arranged so as to cause that bar to be moved in phase either with the bars 111/l l4 or with the bar 113. Merely by way of example, for the formation of the two three-cord tapes 18 (which, as stated, are of the type designated 1b in FIGS. 3, 3a and 3b), the phase and amplitude scheme for the back guide bar set-up is graphically represented in FIG. 15a. The manner in which each yarn 4 is continuously knitted on the same needle 103 into a separate chain of loops or stitches each with three cords and the associated stabilizing yarn laid thereinto will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Referring now to FIGS. 16 to 18, the joining device 24 of the apparatus A includes (see also FIG. 11) means 123 for applying a liquid cement or adhesive to each of the three-cord tapes, and means 124 for bringing and pressing the tapes together. The cement applicator means 123 (FIGS. 16 and 17) is shown as comprising a tapering nozzle-like member 125 provided with an internal bore 126 terminating near the tip of the member 125 in a pair of oppositely facing branch ports 126a. The nozzle member is retained in a housing 127 which also defines a pair of through passageways 127a for the two tapes 18 at the opposite faces of the member 125. A duct or tube 128 is connected to the rear end of the bore 126 to enable the cement or adhesive to be fed to the nozzle from any suitable source (not shown), preferably by a pump and under pressure. In this manner, the facing surfaces of both three-cord tapes are coated with the cement to maximize the ultimate adhesion. It will be understood, however, that only coating one of the tapes or coating one to a greater extent than the other, may suffice as well.

The pressing means 124 is shown as comprising a pair of knurled or otherwise surface-roughened rollers 129 and 130 mounted on respective parallel shafts 131 and 132 and located in coplanar relation on opposite sides of the path of travel of the two three-cord tapes coming from the applicator 123, with their closest peripheral portions spaced by slightly less than the combined thickness of the two three-cord tapes which are to pass therebetween (see FIG. 17). The pressing rollers thus bring the tapes into intimate adhesion-promoting contact with each other. At the same time, the rollers exert a gripping force on the tapes. and act to feed the finished six-cord tape 25 (which, as stated, is of the type designated 1c in FIGS. 4 and 4a) through the joining device 24 and toward the tension control device 27 by virtue of the sprocket 76 being mounted on the shaft 132. To ensure that both rollers will rotate so as to engage the two three-cord tapes without any slippage, respective pinions or spur gears 133 and 134 in mesh with each other are also mounted on the shafts 131 and 132. The synchronization of the feeding action of the pressing rollers 129 and 130 with that of the guide roller 23 through the drive train 71 to 76 also ensures that no slack is permitted to occur in the three-cord tapes while they are being brought together.

It will be understood, of course, that in a mass production environment, the apparatus A would be provided with as large a number of sets of one knitting needle 103, one front guide bar threader 105, and four back guide bar threaders 119 to 122, as the number of three-cord tapes 18 to be formed, and with as large a number of joining devices 24, take-up rolls 26, and tension control devices 27 as the number of finished sixcord tapes to be produced.

The applicability of the so far described representative tape forming apparatus and method according to the present invention to the formation of some of the other high soft stretch tape constructions herein disclosed will be clear to those skilled in the art and need be commented on but briefly. Thus, the weakening step and device and the cord phasing step and rolls may simply be omitted or bypassed if tapes made of unweakened cords be the desired end products; if one-cord tapes were the desired end products, each starting cord would simply be fed to the undulating and tying device for individual processing therein and thence in tape form directly to the take-up roll, and neither cord to cord phasing nor tape to tape phasing and joining would be required; if unitarily formed tapes of plural side by side cords were the desired end products, the tape-phasing and cementing steps would simply be omitted; if a nine-cord tape or a twelve-cord tape made of three-cord sub-tapes were the desired end product, the corresponding number of three-cord tapes would first have to be formed from an appropriate number of starting cords and then brought together, with the cementing step being expanded accordingly; and so forth.

By the same token, if a tape made of a plurality of nested cords be the desired end product, each associated set of cords to be nested, havingbeen previously phased if weakened, would have be undulated as a unit preparatory to the tying operation, for example by means of having each such set of cords passed through a corresponding number of back guide bar threaders moving jointly and codirectionally as by being secured to a common supporting rod. Alternatively, if the tying means for the tape is to be a strip of weak fabric or other sheet material onto which the nested cords are laid flat, the knitting mechanism part of the undulating and tying device would be replaced by a laminating type mechanism (not shown) equipped with means for advancing the strip longitudinally over a table or the like disposed below the back guide bar threaders. In such a system, the cords would be shuttled jointly across and deposited in flat, coplanar relation onto the strip while the same is being advanced, thereby to achieve the desired generally sinusoidal nested configuration. A suitable mechanism, e. g. a twin-needle sewing arrangement having side by side needles spaced from each other by less than the width of the strip, or an adhesive applicator, etc. would be associated with the table to secure the cords to the strip effectively immediately after they are deposited thereon.

It will be understood that the foregoing description of a number of representative embodiments of the present invention is for purposes of illustration only, and that the diverse structural and operational features and relationships herein disclosed are susceptible to various modifications and changes none of which entails any departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the hereto appended claims. Thus, merely by way of example, although the illustrated undulating and tying device has been shown as utilizing a single needle and cooperating threader for forming the stitching yarn for each unitary tape into a series of loops disposed, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 9, in a single line substantially along the longitudinal midline of the tape and each embracing and confining a respective one, or a respective laterally adjacent group, of the transitional portions of the cord or cords, the said device may be provided instead with more than one needle and threader combination for each such tape, so that the tying means will be in the form of more than one series of loops, e.g. two parallel, one wale wide, disconnected chains of loops warp knitted of separate stitching yarns by two separate needles, with the cord or cords laid into both chains of loops by being shuttled back and forth across both needle paths.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for making a high soft stretch reinforcing cord tape to be used ih building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, said tape as made including at least one reinforcing cord having a multiplicity of undulations therein which in any given straight length of the tape are substantially planar, and relatively weak tying means secured to said cord and releasably holding the same in the undulating state thereof; said apparatus comprising:

A. an undulating and tying device operable upon feeding of said cord and said tying means thereinto to transform the same into the desired tape, said device including 1. means for reciprocally laterally deflecting said cord relative to the path of travel thereof through said undulating and tying device, thereby to form said multiplicity of undulations in said cord, and

2. means for continuously securing said relatively weak tying means to said cord coextensively therewith at said undulations thereof;

B. means arranged effectively in advance of the cord entry location of said undulating and tying device for feeding said cord in a slip-free manner from a supply location to said undulating andtying device;

C. means arranged effectively behind the tape exit location of said undulating and tying device for feeding said tape away from the latter in a slip-free manner; and

D. means for driving both said feeding means in predetermined synchronism with one another and the driven elements of said undulating and'tying device, thereby to ensure that said tape has the desired stretch ratio imparted thereto.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for intermittently and repeatedly subjecting said cord to a weakening action, thereby to form in said cord a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions, and means for operating said weakening means in predetermined synchronism with said cord feeding means to control the magnitude of the weakening interval.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said weakening means is operable to subject said cord to a chemical action.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said weakening means is operable to subject said cord to a mechanical action.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, said weakening means comprising means for nicking said cord.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, said nicking means comprising a press having an anvil structure and a cooperating striker structure reciprocally movable toward and away therefrom, said anvil and striker structures when moved together defining therebetween a space of less width than the cord thickness and through which space said cord passes under the action of said cord feeding means, one of said anvil structure and said striker structure being provided with a flat surface engageable with said cord from one side, and the 1 other of said anvil structure and said striker structure being provided with a beveled surface defining a cutting edge engageable with said cord from the other side.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a rotatable take-up roll for receiving said tape, means driving said take-up roll, and tension control means arranged in the path of travel of said tape to said take-up roll and operatively connected to said lastnamed driving means for periodically deactivating the same, thereby to ensure maintenance of the tension in said tape within predetermined acceptable limits.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising means for intermittently and repeatedly subjecting said cord to a weakening action, thereby to form in said cord a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions, and means for operating said weakening means in predetermined synchronism with said cord feeding means to control the magnitude of the weakening interval.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, with said relatively weak tying means being a frangible yarn or thread, said undulating and tying device comprises a warp knitting mechanism operable to knit said yarn or thread into a chain of loops having said cord laid thereinto and held thereby in said undulating state.

10. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, with said relatively weak tying means being a strip of frangible sheet material, said undulating and tying device comprises means for advancing said strip longitudinally therethrough, means for shuttling said cord across said strip and for depositing said cord in undulating configuration on said strip during the advance of the latter, and means for securing said cord to said strip.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said securing means comprises a twin-needled sewing machine.

12. Apparatus for making a high soft stretch" relatively high cord number reinforcing cord tape to be used in building reinforcement-forming structures for molded elastomeric articles intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising:

A. a warp knitting mechanism including 1. a needle bar carrying a plurality of knitting needles, and a single front guide bar carrying a plurality of single threaders in cooperative juxtaposition to said knitting needle,

2. means for operating said needle bar and said front guide bar to lap each threader around its respective knitting needle in a l-O/O-l pattern, a. each needle and threader combination thereby being operable to knit a respective relatively weak cotton or like thread or yarn into a disconnected single chain of loops one wale wide,

3. a plurality of rear guide bars each carrying a plurality of threading tubes one for each of the cords to constitute the tape, each of said threading tubes on each rear guide bar being oriented generally transversely of and having its cord exit end located in close juxtaposition to the path of movement of a respective knitting needle, and

4. pattern cam means acting on said rear guide bars for reciprocally shuttling each associated series of said threading tubes in predetermined phased relation across the associated needle path, thereby to enable a respective plurality of cords to be provided with generally planar undulations and laid in the undulating state and in side by side relationinto each of said chains of loops of a respective one of said threads or yarns so as to be secured to one another and maintained in their undulating state by that thread or yarn, each so combined plurality of cords thereby constituting a relatively low cord number sub-tape any straight length of which the plane of each undulation of each component cord is substantially parallel to the plane of the corresponding undulation of each next adjacent cord;

B. a first metering roll 1. having a high friction exterior surface and 2. arranged effectively in advance of the cord entry location of said warp knitting mechanism and in position to be peripherally intimately engaged by said cords 3. for feeding said cords in a slip-free manner from a supply location to said warp knitting mechanism;

C. a second metering roll 1. having a high friction exterior surface and 2. arranged effectively behind the sub-tape exit location of said warp knitting mechanism and in position to be peripherally intimately engaged by said sub-tapes 3. for feeding said sub-tapes away from the latter in a slip-free manner;

D. means for driving said metering rolls in predetermined synchronism with one another and the driven elements of said warp knitting mechanism, thereby to ensure that said sub-tapes have the desired stretch ratio imparted thereto; and

E. a joining device including means I. for bringing at least two of said sub-tapes into close side by side relation to one another,

2. for pressing such side by side sub-tapes into an adhering engagement with one another to form the final high cord number tape, and

3. for feeding said final tape to a take-up location.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising means arranged effectively in advance of said first metering roll for intermittently and repeatedly sub jecting all of said cords to a simultaneous weakening action, thereby to form in each cord a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions, means for operating said weakening means in predetermined synchronism with said first metering roll to control the magnitude of the weakening interval, and means arranged effectively between said first metering roll and said warp knitting mechanism for adjusting relative to one another the lengths of the paths of travel of the cords of each respective plurality of cords to be passed through a given series of threading tubes so as to effect a longitudinal relative shifting of those cords and a consequent lateral non-alignment of said weakened portions of at least next adjacent cords.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising means arranged effectively between said second metering roll and said joining device for adjusting relative to one another the lengths of the paths of travel of those of said sub-tapes to be combined into said final tape so as to effect a longitudinal relative shifting of such sub-tapes and a consequent lateral non-alignment of said weakened portions of at least next adjacent subtapes.

15. Apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a rotatable take-up roll for said final tape, means driving take-up roll, and tension control means arranged effectively between said joining device and said take-up roll and operatively connected with said driving means for periodically deactivating the same while the formationof said final tape continues, thereby to ensure maintenance of the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits.

16. The method of making a high soft stretch reinforcing cord tape to be used in building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of:

A. providing at least one reinforcing cord;

B. continuously advancing said cord in a slip-free manner from a supply location thereof to an undulating and tying device;

C. in said undulating and tying device reciprocally laterally deflecting said cord relative to the path of travel thereof through said undulating and tying device to form a multiplicity of undulations in said cord;

D. concurrently advancing a relatively weak tying means into said undulating and tying device and securing said tying means to respective portions of said cord at said undulations thereof so as releasably to hold said cord in the undulating state thereof, thereby forming said cord into the desired tape; and

E. continuously advancing said tape away from said undulating and tying device in a slip-free manner and at a controlled speed synchronized with the speed of advance of said cord and with the operation of said undulating and tying device.

' 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of intermittently and repeatedly subjecting said cord to a weakening action to form a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions therein.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said weakening action is effected mechanically.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said weakening action is a nicking of said cord.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising the steps of winding said tape onto a take-up roll, and controlling said winding operation by periodically interrupting the same while the formation of said tape continues, thereby to maintain the tension in said tape within predetermined acceptable limits.

21. The method of making a high soft stretch reinforcing cord tape to be used in building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of:

A. providing a plurality of sets of relatively low numbers of individual reinforcing cords;

B. continuously first advancing all of said cords in a group along a common path of travel and in side by side relation from a supply location past a weakening device, and thereafter advancing those cords in each individual set along respective paths of travel of different lengths to an undulating and tying device;

C. intermittently and repeatedly activating said weakening device, while said cords are being advanced past the same, to subject all cord portions which at each such activation are at said weakening device to a simultaneous weakening action, for forming in each of said cords a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions each having a residual tensile strength between about 5 percent and about 20 percent of the full tensile strength of that cord, whereby the simultaneously formed weakened portions of said cords in each set are first in lateral alignment with one another across the width of that set and are then, by virtue of said different lengths of said respective paths of travel for said cords in each setfrom said weakening device to said undulating and tying device, shifted relative to one another longitudinally of said cords within each set so as to be out of lateral alignment with one another in that set;

D. in said undulating and tying device reciprocally laterally deflecting said cords of each set relative to their paths of travel through said undulating and tying device to form a multiplicity of undulations in each cord, with the instantaneous deflections of adjacent'cords of each set being in opposite directions to place the laterally adjacent ones of each simultaneously formed series of said undulations in each set out of phase with one another;

E. concurrently advancing respective relatively weak tying means for each set of cords into said undulating and tying device and securing each tying means to its respective set of undulated cords, to tie the latter to one another and hold them in their undulating state, thereby forming said sets of cords into respective substantially identical relatively low cord number sub-tapes;

F. continuously advancing said sub-tapes from said undulating and tying device to a joining device along respective paths of travel of different lengths so as to shift said weakened cord portions of each sub-tape as a group longitudinally of that sub-tape relative to and out of lateral alignment with the corresponding weakened cord portions of each other sub-tape;

G. bringing said sub-tapes into adhering side by side contact with each other at said joining device, thereby forming a relatively higher cord number final tape;

H. winding said final tape onto a take-up roll preparatory to use in a building operation; and

l. controlling said winding operation to maintain the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits.

22. The method of making a high soft stretch relatively high cord number reinforcing cord tape to be used in building reinforcement-forming structures for molded elastomeric articles intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of:

A. warp knitting a plurality of relatively weak, frangible stitching yarns into a plurality of disconnected single chains of loops each one wale wide by lapping each of a plurality of single threaders each guiding a respective single stitching yarn around a respective single knitting needle in a l-O/O-l pattern;

B. concurrently shuttling the cords of each of a respective plurality of reinforcing cords reciprocally across each needle path, thereby to form a multiplicity of generally planar undulations in each of such cords and simultaneously lay the same into said loops of the associated stitching yarn so as to form a respective relatively low cord number sub- C. advancing said cords from a supply location to the warp knitting and laying in location in a slip-free manner by passing said cords about a driven first metering roll having a high-friction exterior surface;

D. advancing said sub-tapes from said warp knitting and laying in location to a joining device by passing said sub-tapes about a second driven metering roll having a high friction exterior surface;

E. at said joining device bringing at least two of such sub-tapes into adhering side by side contact with each other so as to form a relatively high cord number final tape;

F. winding said final tape onto a take-up roll; and

G. controlling said winding operation to maintain the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits. 

1. Apparatus for making a high ''''soft stretch'''' reinforcing cord tape to be used ih building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, said tape as made including at least one reinforcing cord having a multiplicity of undulations therein which in any given straight length of the tape are substantially planar, and relatively weak tying means secured to said cord and releasably holding the same in the undulating state thereof; said apparatus comprising: A. an undulating and tying device operable upon feeding of said cord and said tying means thereinto to transform the same into the desired tape, said device including
 1. means for reciprocally laterally deflecting said cord relative to the path of travel thereof through said undulating and tying device, thereby to form said multiplicity of undulations in said cord, and
 2. means for continuously securing said relatively weak tying means to said cord coextensively therewith at said undulations thereof; B. means arranged effectively in advance of the cord entry location of said undulating and tying device for feeding said cord in a slip-free manner from a supply location to said undulating and tying device; C. means arranged effectively behind the tape exit location of said undulating and tying device for feeding said tape away from the latter in a slip-free manner; and D. means for driving both said feeding means in predetermined synchronism with one another and the driven elements of said undulating and tying device, thereby to ensure that said tape has the desired stretch ratio imparted thereto.
 2. means for operating said needle bar and said front guide bar to lap each threader around its respective knitting needle in a 1-0/0-1 pattern, a. each needle and threader combination thereby being operable to knit a respective relatively weak cotton or like thread or yarn into a disconnected single chain of loops one wale wide,
 2. arranged effectively behind the sub-tape exit location of said warp knitting mechanism and in position to be peripherally intimately engaged by said sub-tapes
 2. means for continuously securing said relatively weak tying means to said cord coextensively therewith at said undulations thereof; B. means arranged effectively in advance of the cord entry location of said undulating and tying device for feeding said cord in a slip-free manner from a supply location to said undulating and tying device; C. means arranged effectively behind the tape exit location of said undulating and tying device for feeding said tape away from the latter in a slip-free manner; and D. means for driving both said feeding means in predetermined synchronism with one another and the driven elements of said undulating and tying device, thereby to ensure that said tape has the desired stretch ratio imparted thereto.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for intermittently and repeatedly subjecting said cord to a weakening action, thereby to form in said cord a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions, and means for operating said weakening means in predetermined synchronism with said cord feeding means to control the magnitude of the weakening interval.
 2. arranged effectively in advance of the cord entry location of said warp knitting mechanism and in position to be peripherally intimately engaged by said cords
 2. for pressing such side by side sub-tapes into an adhering engagement with one another to form the final high cord number tape, and
 3. for feeding said sub-tapes away from the latter in a slip-free manner; D. means for driving said metering rolls in predetermined synchronism with one another and the driven elements of said warp knitting mechanism, thereby to ensure that said sub-tapes have the desired stretch ratio imparted thereto; and E. a joining device including means
 3. a plurality of rear guide bars each carrying a plurality of threading tubes one for each of the cords to constitute the tape, each of said threading tubes on each rear guide bar being oriented generally transversely of and having its cord exit end located in close juxtaposition to the path of movement of a respective knitting needle, and
 3. for feeding said cords in a slip-free manner from a supply location to said warp knitting mechanism; C. a second metering roll
 3. for feeding said final tape to a take-up location.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said weakening means is operable to subject said cord to a chemical action.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said weakening means is operable to subject said cord to a mechanical action.
 4. pattern cam means acting on said rear guide bars for reciprocally shuttling each associated series of said threading tubes in predetermined phased relation across the associated needle path, thereby to enable a respective plurality of cords to be provided with generally planar undulations and laid in the undulating state and in side by side relation into each of said chains of loops of a respective one of said threads or yarns so as to be secured to one another and maintained in their undulating state by that thread or yarn, each so combined plurality of cords thereby constituting a relatively low cord number sub-tape in any straight length of which the plane of each undulation of each component cord is substantially parallel to the plane of the corresponding undulation of each next adjacent cord; B. a first metering roll
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, said weakening means comprising means for nicking said cord.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5, said nicking means comprising a press having an anvil structure and a cooperating striker structure reciprocally movable toward and away therefrom, said anvil and striker structures when moved together defining therebetween a space of less width than the cord thickness and through which space said cord passes under the action of said cord feeding means, one of said anvil structure and said striker structure being provided with a flat surface engageable with said cord from one side, and the other of said anvil structure and said striker structure being provided with a beveled surface defining a cutting edge engageable with said cord from the other side.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a rotatable take-up roll for receiving said tape, means driving said take-up roll, and tension control means arranged in the path of travel of said tape to said take-up roll and operatively connected to said last-named driving means for periodically deactivating the same, thereby to ensure maintenance of the tension in said tape within predetermined acceptable limits.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising means for intermittently and repeatedly subjecting said cord to a weakening action, thereby to form in said cord a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions, and means for operating said weakening means in predetermined synchronism with said cord feeding means to control the magnitude of the weakening interval.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, with said relatively weak tying means being a frangible yarn or thread, said undulating and tying device comprises a warp knitting mechanism operable to knit said yarn or thread into a chain of loops having said cord laid thereinto and held thereby in said undulating state.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, with said relatively weak tying means being a strip of frangible sheet material, said undulating and tying device comprises means for advancing said strip longitudinally therethrough, means for shuttling said cord across said strip and for depositing said cord in undulating configuration on said strip during the advance of the latter, and means for securing said cord to said strip.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said securing means comprises a twin-needled sewing machine.
 12. Apparatus for making a high ''''soft stretch'''' relatively high cord number reinforcing cord tape to be used in building reinforcement-forming structures for molded elastomeric articles intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising: A. a warp knitting mechanisM including
 13. Apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising means arranged effectively in advance of said first metering roll for intermittently and repeatedly subjecting all of said cords to a simultaneous weakening action, thereby to form in each cord a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions, means for operating said weakening means in predetermined synchronism with said first metering roll to control the magnitude of the weakening interval, and means arranged effectively between said first metering roll and said warp knitting mechanism for adjusting relative to one another the lengths of the paths of travel of the cords of each respective plurality of cords to be passed through a given series of threading tubes so as to effect a longitudinal relative shifting of those cords and a consequent lateral non-alignment of said weakened portions of at least next adjacent cords.
 14. Apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising means arranged efFectively between said second metering roll and said joining device for adjusting relative to one another the lengths of the paths of travel of those of said sub-tapes to be combined into said final tape so as to effect a longitudinal relative shifting of such sub-tapes and a consequent lateral non-alignment of said weakened portions of at least next adjacent sub-tapes.
 15. Apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a rotatable take-up roll for said final tape, means driving take-up roll, and tension control means arranged effectively between said joining device and said take-up roll and operatively connected with said driving means for periodically deactivating the same while the formation of said final tape continues, thereby to ensure maintenance of the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits.
 16. The method of making a high ''''soft stretch'''' reinforcing cord tape to be used in building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of: A. providing at least one reinforcing cord; B. continuously advancing said cord in a slip-free manner from a supply location thereof to an undulating and tying device; C. in said undulating and tying device reciprocally laterally deflecting said cord relative to the path of travel thereof through said undulating and tying device to form a multiplicity of undulations in said cord; D. concurrently advancing a relatively weak tying means into said undulating and tying device and securing said tying means to respective portions of said cord at said undulations thereof so as releasably to hold said cord in the undulating state thereof, thereby forming said cord into the desired tape; and E. continuously advancing said tape away from said undulating and tying device in a slip-free manner and at a controlled speed synchronized with the speed of advance of said cord and with the operation of said undulating and tying device.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of intermittently and repeatedly subjecting said cord to a weakening action to form a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions therein.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said weakening action is effected mechanically.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said weakening action is a nicking of said cord.
 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising the steps of winding said tape onto a take-up roll, and controlling said winding operation by periodically interrupting the same while the formation of said tape continues, thereby to maintain the tension in said tape within predetermined acceptable limits.
 21. The method of making a high ''''soft stretch'''' reinforcing cord tape to be used in building a reinforcement-forming structure for a molded elastomeric article intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of: A. providing a plurality of sets of relatively low numbers of individual reinforcing cords; B. continuously first advancing all of said cords in a group along a common path of travel and in side by side relation from a supply location past a weakening device, and thereafter advancing those cords in each individual set along respective paths of travel of different lengths to an undulating and tying device; C. intermittently and repeatedly activating said weakening device, while said cords are being advanced past the same, to subject all cord portions which at each such activation are at said weakening device to a simultaneous weakening action, for forming in each of said cords a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced weakened portions each having a residual tensile strength between about 5 percent and about 20 percent of the full tensile strength of that cord, whereby the simultaneously formed weakened portions of said cords in each set are first in lateral aliGnment with one another across the width of that set and are then, by virtue of said different lengths of said respective paths of travel for said cords in each set from said weakening device to said undulating and tying device, shifted relative to one another longitudinally of said cords within each set so as to be out of lateral alignment with one another in that set; D. in said undulating and tying device reciprocally laterally deflecting said cords of each set relative to their paths of travel through said undulating and tying device to form a multiplicity of undulations in each cord, with the instantaneous deflections of adjacent cords of each set being in opposite directions to place the laterally adjacent ones of each simultaneously formed series of said undulations in each set out of phase with one another; E. concurrently advancing respective relatively weak tying means for each set of cords into said undulating and tying device and securing each tying means to its respective set of undulated cords, to tie the latter to one another and hold them in their undulating state, thereby forming said sets of cords into respective substantially identical relatively low cord number sub-tapes; F. continuously advancing said sub-tapes from said undulating and tying device to a joining device along respective paths of travel of different lengths so as to shift said weakened cord portions of each sub-tape as a group longitudinally of that sub-tape relative to and out of lateral alignment with the corresponding weakened cord portions of each other sub-tape; G. bringing said sub-tapes into adhering side by side contact with each other at said joining device, thereby forming a relatively higher cord number final tape; H. winding said final tape onto a take-up roll preparatory to use in a building operation; and I. controlling said winding operation to maintain the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits.
 22. The method of making a high ''''soft stretch'''' relatively high cord number reinforcing cord tape to be used in building reinforcement-forming structures for molded elastomeric articles intended to undergo an expansion after incorporation of the tape therein, comprising the steps of: A. warp knitting a plurality of relatively weak, frangible stitching yarns into a plurality of disconnected single chains of loops each one wale wide by lapping each of a plurality of single threaders each guiding a respective single stitching yarn around a respective single knitting needle in a 1-0/0-1 pattern; B. concurrently shuttling the cords of each of a respective plurality of reinforcing cords reciprocally across each needle path, thereby to form a multiplicity of generally planar undulations in each of such cords and simultaneously lay the same into said loops of the associated stitching yarn so as to form a respective relatively low cord number sub-tape; C. advancing said cords from a supply location to the warp knitting and laying in location in a slip-free manner by passing said cords about a driven first metering roll having a high-friction exterior surface; D. advancing said sub-tapes from said warp knitting and laying in location to a joining device by passing said sub-tapes about a second driven metering roll having a high friction exterior surface; E. at said joining device bringing at least two of such sub-tapes into adhering side by side contact with each other so as to form a relatively high cord number final tape; F. winding said final tape onto a take-up roll; and G. controlling said winding operation to maintain the tension in said final tape within predetermined acceptable limits. 